Rating: 5/5
Review:
Gripping and insightful
With a quirky title like this, I thought this book would be either excellent or dreadful. It turned out to be excellent. It certainly won't be for everyone: it is slow and meditative, and the serial killers and action which abound in a lot of other Scandinavian fiction are wholly absent. It has very little plot, other than a strange, isolated young man eventually washing up in a tiny institution on the Faroe Islands for recovering psychiatric patients. What the book does have are thoroughly believable, flawed and sympathetic characters treated with genuine compassion, and real insight into the human condition.
Although it has a very different feel, there are shades of Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident..." in that the book is narrated by Mattias, a man with a very unusual view of the world. We see things through his eyes and with his perceptions so that his view seems wholly understandable, and the empathy of the author with his damaged protagonist is remarkable. Enough happened to make me keep reading and wanting to get back to the book, and I found myself completely taken up in Mattias's world. The writing and translation are excellent - unfussy, direct and beautifully structured - and this makes the book something really special, I thought.
I still cherish Mattias's company after finishing the book and feel I've been on a very rewarding adventure with him. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a thoughtful, character-driven read. It's a great experience and one you won't forget in a hurry.
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